An integrative skeletal and paleogenomic analysis of stature variation suggests relatively reduced health for early European farmers

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F67985939%3A_____%2F22%3A00561038" target="_blank" >RIV/67985939:_____/22:00561038 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2106743119" target="_blank" >https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2106743119</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2106743119" target="_blank" >10.1073/pnas.2106743119</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

An integrative skeletal and paleogenomic analysis of stature variation suggests relatively reduced health for early European farmers

Original language description

Human culture, biology, and health were shaped dramatically by the onset of agriculture ∼12,000 y B.P. This shift is hypothesized to have resulted in increased individual fitness and population growth as evidenced by archaeological and population genomic data alongside a decline in physiological health as inferred from skeletal remains. Here, we consider osteological and ancient DNA data from the same prehistoric individuals to study human stature variation as a proxy for health across a transition to agriculture. Specifically, we compared “predicted” genetic contributions to height from paleogenomic data and “achieved” adult osteological height estimated from long bone measurements for 167 individuals across Europe spanning the Upper Paleolithic to Iron Age (∼38,000 to 2,400 B.P.). We found that individuals from the Neolithic were shorter than expected (given their individual polygenic height scores) by an average of −3.82 cm relative to individuals from the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic (P = 0.040) and −2.21 cm shorter relative to post-Neolithic individuals (P = 0.068), with osteological vs. expected stature steadily increasing across the Copper (+1.95 cm relative to the Neolithic), Bronze (+2.70 cm), and Iron (+3.27 cm) Ages. These results were attenuated when we additionally accounted for genome-wide genetic ancestry variation: for example, with Neolithic individuals −2.82 cm shorter than expected on average relative to pre-Neolithic individuals (P = 0.120). We also incorporated observations of paleopathological indicators of nonspecific stress that can persist from childhood to adulthood in skeletal remains into our model. Overall, our work highlights the potential of integrating disparate datasets to explore proxies of health in prehistory.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

60102 - Archaeology

Project

<a href="/en/project/GJ19-20970Y" target="_blank" >GJ19-20970Y: Land use, social transformations and woodland in Central European Prehistory. Modelling approaches to human-environment interactions</a><br>

Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2022

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

ISSN

0027-8424

e-ISSN

—

Volume of the periodical

119

Issue of the periodical within the volume

15

Country of publishing house

US - UNITED STATES

Number of pages

12

Pages from-to

e2106743119

UT code for WoS article

000819867000005

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85128339103